Chapter 3 #3
An officer walked over to them, offering his hand.
“Sargeant Ben Valiente,” the man said. He seemed to be a seasoned cop in his early fifties, fit and resolute.
“This guy we’re all after is a master at not just hot wiring a car, but he’s hacking into computer systems as well.
And how the hell he got a computer and Internet availability, I sure don’t know.
But we found this about twenty minutes before the alarm came out on it that it was a known vehicle to have been used in the kidnappings. ”
“He’s breaking into houses,” Angela said.
“Well, there aren’t that many around here.” Sergeant Valiente said.
“Coffee shop—and we know he had an accomplice—or a victim, really—there. He could have gotten on the computer,” Jackson said.
“And there are scattered homes around here, a lot of them historic, grandfathered into families when large tracts of the area became national forest. We think he’s in there somewhere.
When he realized we might have compromised one of his accomplices—or perhaps one of his victims—he made sure to escape the area and come out here. ”
“We haven’t had any reports of break-ins in the area,” Sargeant Valiente told them, frowning.
“He wouldn’t leave a trail behind,” Jackson assured him.
Sergeant Valiente’s frown went deeper. “I guess not—not if he was just trying to use the computer or Internet system, but . . . there is one thing!”
“Anything at all—no matter how minor it may seem—can prove to be helpful,” Angela assured him.
“Well, you know how Halloween specialty shops open all over. Starting in August! I’ve heard that Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Halloween are our big commercial holidays, so I guess it makes sense, but .
. . anyway, the mall just a way to the east of us has a big store that changes throughout the year, depending on what’s trending.
Anyway, the shop was taken over by a company that specializes in Halloween decorations, big and small.
The cameras were down—again, someone who can manipulate the Internet—and no money was taken, just decorations, a scarecrow, other things. But . . . how . . .”
“How would our guy break in and then get all his equipment out here? Well, he escaped as night was coming on, switched vehicles a half dozen times, and managed to kidnap two women. Twist two others into being accomplices,” Angela said.
“Sargeant, I think that piece of information is incredibly valuable. Thank you! Our so-called Satan has an obsession with Halloween; now we know he’s trying to prepare a very special haunted house or area and . . .” She paused, looking at Jackson.
“He’s a master manipulator of the Internet and human beings,” Jackson said. “And I think Angela is right. He has created his form of a haunted hell deep in these woods. And he’s using his kidnapped victims in two ways—he knows there will be massive hunts going on to find them. And . . .”
This time, his voice trailed.
“And he might be using them as props as well,” Angela said.
“Dead or alive,” Jackson agreed wearily.
“Oh, my God!” Sargeant Valiente said, shaking his head. “Oh, my God, this monster must be caught!”
“He’s getting help somewhere,” Jackson said. “And thank you, we’ll get all the possible footage of area places near the Halloween store; and maybe between your techs and our techs, we’ll find something.”
He noted that Angela had her phone out and was studying it intently.
“I’ve found something,” she said.
“What?” the sergeant demanded, surprised she might have found something that a team of specialists hadn’t seen.
And Angela sensed the concern in his tone and quickly told him, “It may be nothing, and it’s something that wouldn’t have raised alarm.
But when you look at the street heading toward the place, there are people going in and out of a bar, and a man looking as if he’s with them, but then you see a form heading toward the mall in the deep darkness of the night and in a while, you see forms that look like two people, lovers perhaps just heading to a car to get home after a night out.
I don’t think the forms are two human beings—I think you have a man pretending to cuddle a special effect prop, a creature, a scarecrow, ghost or the like. ”
“Any decent footage of the man’s face?” Jackson asked.
“Already sent to our facial recognition team,” she told him.
His phone was already ringing.
Bruce.
“Got it, Angela, and yeah, it’s someone helping him. It’s the guard from the prison. His name is Theodore or ‘Teddy’ Adkinson. He didn’t show up for work today. And now we know why.”
“He stole Halloween props for Darrell Manderley,” Angela said flatly. “Now we need to put out a bulletin on him.”
“No!”
Sergeant Valiente was frowning, looking at his own phone, and then looking up at the two of them.
“He’s already been found,” Valiente said. “Well, his body was found. He was shot through the back of the skull . . . found near one of the stolen cars just off the side of the road, not far from here, bordering the forest.”
“So, well, helping with an escape and stealing everything Darrell Manderley needed should have given him a chance, but wow,” Angela murmured. “The man is truly on a quest, and he’s going to get where he needs to go no matter what it takes.”
“He’ll get rid of anyone who might stand in his way,” Jackson said. “And even anyone who might have helped him but might be caught by authorities and give anything about his plans away.”
“At prison, he talked about revenge,” Angela reminded them. “So, he means to get to someone, someone he sees as an enemy who caused him distress, caused him to be locked up, caused his reign as a supreme being to end.”
“And that would be you, Angela.” Jackson said. “So, we should get you to safety—”
“Oh, hell no!” she told him. “If he’s after me, then we need to use me, let him believe that he has a chance—”
“It’s Darrell Manderley, a human monster.” Jackson reminded her. “Angela—”
“Jackson. You said it. Human monster. Besides,” she said lightly. “I’ll be all right. I have the best out there as backup,” she assured him.
“And me as spiritual reinforcement.” Trent Fielding said.
“Still,” Jackson murmured.
“He is a monster, and you’re not going to argue me out of it. He wants me; he hates me. I am going to be human bait—and you’re going to reel him in.” she told Jackson.
And maybe, just maybe, she was right.
Because the man had to be stopped.
No, the monster had to be stopped.
Before more victims lay on the forest floor along with the scarecrows, ghosts, goblins and spooky creatures . . .
She was right.
Many lives needed to be saved. Sometimes, it wasn’t easy when your partner was your wife.
And yet, he had no right to doubt her.
They would play this out together. And hell, yes, he would have her back.
She had played Manderley’s mind game the first time he’d been taken.
And she would know they would change the game.
And so . . .
They had to be ready for a change in the rules.